Father's Day

I had plans to do a survey with Harlie, but daycare beat me to the punch. I think these are so cute!

What a difference 8 years make!

Tuesday was our eight year anniversary and we kept it pretty mellow. Mostly to save money. On the actual day, Scott BBQ'd ribs (and burned his arm off), Harlie played in the pool, and then we all sat down to watch the wedding video as a family.  This would be Harlie's first time seeing it and she was pretty exicted. It had probably been a couple years since Austin had seen it last so he was curious to watch it again as well...seeing himself as such a little kid!  I wished I had recorded their commentary...I found it pretty entertaining.

Austin kept being embarrassed of himself.  First it was how his ears stuck out and glowed in the late afternoon sun as he walked down the aisle with Blair. Then he was annoyed with how close he was standing to Scott at the alter, thinking he was too up in our business. I assured him that he was right where we wanted him to be.  For the 80th time he told me how awkward he felt when Scott and I were reciting our vows to him. I'm sure my laughing/crying fest really helped. :-)  And then when it came to the dancing he was very unimpressed with his moves. I thought he had some major talent, but what do I know. Get down with yo' bad self Austinator!

I jotted down Harlie's comments at the suggestion of my mom and Melanie...they were too cute and I wanted to remember.

H: Where was I? Was I at home by myself? Where is Mazzy?

Us: You weren't here yet, you weren't even a baby yet?

H: But where was I? Was I all by myself???

(She still doesn't understand the concept of not being alive...I agree, it's a toughy.)

(Watching Austin and Blair walk down the aisle) 

Me: Who is that, Harlie? 

H: Mazzy? Uncle Josh?

H: Mom’s dress is pretty. But why wasn’t it pink?

Me: Well, most people wear white wedding dresses, but it could have been pink. You can have a pink wedding dress.

(As Scott and I are walking back down the aisle after the service)

H: But Mommy and Daddy didn't get married?!

Us: Yeah, we JUST did! (Who knows what she thinks happens when people get married.)

  

(During 1^st dance)

H: Your dress was sparkley!

Me: Yes it was! I love sparkles! (And thank you SO much for noticing!! :-))

---

We had long planned a weekend trip to visit Mark and Melanie the weekend after our anniversary, and while it wasn't particularly romantic (the boys were away for 6 hours playing golf), it was such a relaxing time and a wonderful way to catch up with one of my favorite people on the planet!

Thanks to Keri and Josh for watching the kiddos! We've got a sweet sitter situation, no?

Pop Culture

Watching a Pixar short with that scurrying little creature from Ice Age, Austin says:

"Scat is awesome. he's like the Scooby Doo of our time."

Yes You Can!

From Harlie's daily log sheet:


Quote of the day:

(talking to herself) 

" I am going to build a tower. It is going to be wonderful though. You can do anything if you want."


Amen Sista.

Down, Down, Across

The big news around here is that Harlie came home from daycare last week having written her first letter.  Can you guess which one?  Well, H for Harlie of course!  In the past few weeks, she has been identifying H's everywhere: in the bathtub, in books, you name it.  Always with the declaration, "H is for Harlie!"  Here is a photo of her very first letter H's.

My guess is that Harlie's H's are on the left. :-)

When the weekend came, Scott and I were playing with Harlie and her Magna Doodle in her room. I asked her to draw some H's for me and she thankfully complied. As she was writing she also chanted "Down, down, across!"  It was so cute.

Saturday morning arrived, and when Harlie woke up she was surprised with an early birthday present from Grandma and Papa.  They wanted her to be able to use it outside before the weather turned cold and rainy. They had presented it to her in the box, so she wasn't quite sure what it was exactly until Scott and I put it together for her. Since Mom and Dan couldn't be there to see her reaction after it was put together, I made sure to film it on my camera.




Later that afternoon, after we returned from the pumpkin patch, we broke out the paints and Harlie went to town.

And here's the final product, a Harlie Shavonne original. She signed it with an "H" then Mama dated it and finished the rest of her name.

Subject: Conversation with Harlie

Below is an email I received at work this afternoon from Jessica that totally brightened my day:

Harlie has been so talkative today! A few things that left me wondering....

 

On houses--

 

H: We are getting  a new house!

J: You are??

H: Yes, don't tell my daddy.

On school--

 

H: When I am three I am going to the nutcracker with Nana.

J: Wow! That will be fun.

H: I get to wear ballerina shoes.

J: That will look pretty.

H: I won't go to pre-school when I am three.

J: You won't??? We will miss you, if you leave.

H: When I am three I will not go to pre-school. I will go to the nutcracker. I will wear ballerina shoes. Then I will go to ballerina school.

 

Harlie was great at the zoo today. She loved running around and seeing the animals. She was listening to directions SO well (stay together! No jumping in puddles please!)!

  

** I keep trying to make it clear to Harlie that she's going to see the Nutcracker when she's five...but she's not listening. 

** No, we're not moving soon. Scott mentioned to her the other day that someday we'll have a new house.

So what if it sounds like "Bubba"

At the dinner table tonight, completely out of the blue, Harlie says:

"Mama calls me Bubs."

Totally random and totally made me smile.

Love ya Bubbies!

Missing Big Brother

This morning as I was pulling clothes out of the dryer, Harlie stopped to peek into Austin's room on her way to come see what I was up to...

Harlie:  Austin's not in his bed Mama!

Me:  He's at school.

Harlie:  No he's not.

Me:  Yeah Baby, he took the school bus to school.

Harlie:  I want my brother.

Me:  You want your brother?

Harlie:  I want my brother back, Mommy.

Top Gun

Me:          So, did you like it Aust?

Austin:    Well yeah, obviously it was a good movie. (so nonchalant, like "uh duh, if you didn't think       
               that's a good movie, you must be dead.")

Me :       It's an AWESOME movie!

Austin:    Exactly. (Pause) It might be right up there with Star Wars.

Me (thinking to myself ): Wow, STAR WARS???  I was a little afraid you'd think it was totally 80's. But come to think of it, Top Gun is more current than the original Star Wars  movies.

Me (talking again): Did it make you scared at all? ( I kind of forgot people die in the movie...that must be the 10 year old girl in me just waiting for the "Take my Breath Away" scene)

Austin:   No way. It just makes me want to do it more.


So, by "it", I just hope he meant the movie in general and not the scary danger and dying parts.


Also, two more things:


1. In 1986, "PG" meant something totally different than it does now.


2. Watching this movie through 33 year old eyes...still awesome, but freakin' killed me.  Don't die Goose, you have a wife and CHILD!

What's that you say?

Since I basically stopped recording in Harlie's baby book when we moved out of Woolwich (I think it's actually still in the back of my trunk), I wanted to make a note about some of the words she mispronounces here on the family blog. I'm too lazy to go dig the baby book out and want to make sure I write it down somewhere, because these are the ones that sound so cute when they come out of her mouth that you don't want to correct her for fear she'll stop saying them. So in typical bullet point fashion, here's the list so far (I'll be adding more as they come to me):

• Mello-melon (Watermelon)
• Smoovie (Smoothie)
• Poople (Purple)
• Tomato (for Potato)
• Fwag (Flag)
• Bam-baid (Band-Aid)
• Straw-wa (Straw)
• Lello (Yellow)
  
• Strawberry Cake-cake (She STILL doesn't say Strawberry Shortcake)

High on the Pot (Not that kind)

A few days ago while waiting for Harlie to finish on the potty, I'm kneeling down next to the toilet (sometimes she likes to hold my hands for support...sorry, TMI?) so that we are face to face.

She looks at me for a minute and then in a soft voice says 'I love you Mama. You have green eyes.'

An unexpected gift during an ordinary moment. Those are the best.

Some things never change

Me: So Aust, are you getting too old for this yet? (handing him the KIDS National Geographic magazine that had come in the mail.)

Austin: When you spend most of your childhood doing something, like I grew up reading this magazine, you just always like it, so no.

Ain't that the truth?